Wall Street was looking for something yesterday. As the vote on the bailout package approached, the stock market was hinting that it wanted the package passed. In fact, as the votes were being tallied, the Dow Jones Industrials recovered a large part of a 600 point loss on the hope that the deal was actually going to happen. But when it became clear the bill was going to fail, the Dow registered its biggest drop ever– 777 points.

I don't pretend to know whether or not a $700 billion bailout package is the answer to what ails our economy. But yesterday for a little while, the markets were hopeful.

And that was good for middle-class Americans. They have stood by and watched their 401(k)s hemorrhage for months. They were also told all weekend by their elected leaders that a rescue plan was on the way. Their elected leaders lied. Again. In the end, politics trumped everything else. Nancy Pelosi gave a speech and that angered some house republicans, and bingo, the whole project went right down the toilet.

Now it's the Jewish holidays and nothing will happen for a couple more days. And once again, the middle class will take it in the shorts because some Washington moron wanted to make a point. They make me tired.

Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

We've never had a situation like this before, where a national crisis has intervened six weeks before a presidential election. So far, despite all the grandstanding, Senators Obama and McCain have had little impact on the debate surrounding the Wall Street rescue plan.

Today, McCain said of the failed bailout package: "We didn't do a good enough job. We'll go at it. I'm glad to stay at it. That's what my job is as an American, not as a candidate for president."

He's said he'll return to Washington to help with negotiations. You remember how well that worked last week when he parachuted into Washington to save the day. He was going to cancel last Friday's debate if there wasn't a deal. But there was no deal and he went anyway. His campaign said he was confident enough there would be a deal. But there was no deal. At the end of the day McCain looked a little silly.

But this was a failure on both parties' part. Two-thirds of Republicans and about one-third of Democrats in the House voted against the bailout plan. Barack Obama supported it. In the wake of yesterday's failure, he has urged calm. He doesn't want Congress to start over on the bill. "Given the progress we have made," Obama said, " I believe we are unlikely to succeed if we start from scratch or reopen negotiations about the core elements of the agreement."

Here’s my question to you: When it comes to the bailout package, what's the proper role for the presidential candidates?

Last Friday, we ran a piece of tape from an interview Governor Sarah Palin did with "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric. She was asked about the bailout package. Palin rambled on incoherently for nearly a minute about trade, jobs, health care... Everything but the bailout package.

That segment of the Cafferty File was posted on YouTube and as of today has received more than one million, one hundred thousand hits.

Well guess what? She's ba-ack. Palin did another interview with Couric in which she was asked about the first interview.

Palin responded, “Well, not only am I ready, but willing and able to serve as vice president with Senator McCain if Americans so bless us and privilege us with the opportunity of serving them, ready with my executive experience as a city mayor and manager, as a governor, as a commissioner, a regulator of oil and gas.”

Here’s my question to you: Is Sarah Palin helping her chances by continuing to do interviews with Katie Couric?

About this Blog:

Jack Cafferty sounds off hourly on the Situation Room on the stories crossing his radar. Now, you can check in with Jack online to see what he's thinking and weigh in with your own comments online and on TV.